[grunter72]

Quote:

That all depends on the output stage and the rest of the implementation.  My Buffalo III (ES9018) sounds nothing like your findings..

Of course, I speak about my limited listening experience.

 

[grunter72]

Quote:

give the Off Ramp 5 a spin on the Hilo if you will. I'm curious to see how good the Hilo USB implementation is vs the top end S/Pdif converters.

It will be done, as soon as I find the time to invite my friend at home (not before two week).

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

Of course, I speak about my limited listening experience.

One good unit (commercially available) with decent design using Sabre is the Calyx Dac (need the power supply though). Still I haven't heard any sabre DAC that is as involving as a good NOS/R2R dac. Btw since you live in Italy, have you had the chance to demo the North Star Extremo yet? 
 
Also, I would love to see the OR5 + Hilo/Forsell/B2 comparison 

 

[grunter72]

Quote:

One good unit (commercially available) with decent design using Sabre is the Calyx Dac (need the power supply though). Still I haven't heard any sabre DAC that is as involving as a good NOS/R2R dac. Btw since you live in Italy, have you had the chance to demo the North Star Extremo yet? 
 
Also, I would love to see the OR5 + Hilo/Forsell/B2 comparison 

 
Another good example of sabre 9018 is Eastern Electric Minimax with opa627 or lme opamp.
A good dac just a little on the loudness side.
 
The comparison will be done, but I don't know when. Maybe in may.
 
The only northstar dac I've listened to is Model III (quite an old dac) but, for my taste, doesn't sound very well.
Northstar is in San Giuliano Terme and I live in Pistoia, so about 70km near me.
I could ask them.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

One good unit (commercially available) with decent design using Sabre is the Calyx Dac (need the power supply though). Still I haven't heard any sabre DAC that is as involving as a good NOS/R2R dac. Btw since you live in Italy, have you had the chance to demo the North Star Extremo yet? 
 
Also, I would love to see the OR5 + Hilo/Forsell/B2 comparison 

 
 
HEX anyone?

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

 
 
HEX anyone?

Cost a tons, and basically a two octave board + 1 digital board - each with its own toroidal transformer; colour me unimpressed 

. I'm not even motivated to ask for a demo, even though I liked the Octave.
 
Plus I'm not even sure if we can call the metrum "NOS", since they erased all identification from the chip.

 

[preproman]

So what are some of the TOTL NOS DACs?

 

[MorbidToaster]

Not sure about TOTL but Line Magnetic just put out a new NOS DAC (IIRC) with both tube and SS output options.
 
I really want to hear it.

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

So what are some of the TOTL NOS DACs?

If you wants the best of the best, there's the Audio Note Signature 5, and the Zanden 5000.
 
Worth looking into good R2R dac too.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

I have had the Lynx Hilo in my secondary setup paired with yesteryear's "flagship" headphones and a ZDT for over a week now and this thing deserves all the praise it has been getting.  I won't get into any specifics but it runs pretty darned hot, looks pretty, doesn't take up a lot of space, and seems well built.  I listen through USB to a Mac (cheapie usb cable) with both good and bad source material and am very pleased with the purchase.  Shopping for DACs is not a fun task in my experience but I am glad I took the chance.  The USB input is asynchronous with the xmos chipset; something I don't think Lynx tries to promote about their DAC.  I can't say how the headphone amp is but I have definitely heard better when using the hd600 and hd650 through it so that part of the DAC is likely a bunch of marketing hype.
 
I also have no intent or desire to add a high quality usb to spdif converter or even look at more expensive DACs at this point.  So that's a big plus!

 

[Happy Camper]

I have heard better amps as well but for the convenience, it's not bad with the few I've tried. They do a very good job with the HE-500s. I've been running the monitor outs to my speaker rig and am considering a XLR/RCA converter for that purpose. The line out to my headphone rig is killer so I'd like to hear the imaging on my stats. I'm not as intent as I once was to just listen to headphones.

And I agree 100% about DAC shopping. Too much concentration and too little difference. I'll just say I'm good to stop here. But when prepro ever gets his Buffalo III, I'll still swap the PWDII, Master 7 and Buffalo III for the experience and to comment here.

 

[CDWMcInSpots]

Regarding the headphone amplifier:
 
I like it as I've described earlier.
 
What amplifiers are you two comparing it to? Is this more a question of taste than quality? It wouldn't necessarily surprise me that it's not for everyone, especially those that listen at high loudness levels and are treble sensitive.

 

[Theogenes]

Hmmm... you think the Buffalo III could really compete with the Hilo? (I've pretty much decided on the Hilo so that I can stop waffling and researching every new DAC that comes out, but I'm still curious). 

 

[Happy Camper]

Hmmm... you think the Buffalo III could really compete with the Hilo? (I've pretty much decided on the Hilo so that I can stop waffling and researching every new DAC that comes out, but I'm still curious). 

The time I heard it, it certainly did sound in that league. The price though will be more like the PWDs by the time they get the bugs ironed out.

 

[Happy Camper]

Regarding the headphone amplifier:

I like it as I've described earlier.

What amplifiers are you two comparing it to? Is this more a question of taste than quality? It wouldn't necessarily surprise me that it's not for everyone, especially those that listen at high loudness levels and are treble sensitive.

Well for me, the new GS-X II, Singlepower maxxed Extreme, Bryston HPA, Zana Deux, to name a few. All of which cost as much as or more than the DAC itself.